Images 2000 has almost completed work on the first phase of Botswana Diamond Technology Park, located near Gaborone. The entire park when complete is estimated to be worth $50-million spread over 35 000-m2.

The first building of 1 500-m2 of phase one, will be owned by South African Diamond Corporation (Safdico). This highly advanced tech savvy building is scheduled to begin production before end-September. Another �first entrant� to the park is Steinmetz who will own a 2 000-m2 cutting, polishing and jewellery-manufacturing facility scheduled to be operational later this month.

The entire architecture has been inspired by the �rough to polished� concept of diamonds involving an interplay of textures, lights and angles, and for which materials were sourced globally. Also 10% of the overall infrastructure budget has been allotted to ensure security for this phase.

In the second phase, a central services building, called �The Atrium� is planned to be built to encompass financial services, machinery supply companies, IT companies, cleaning service providers, a laboratory, recreational facilities, and the park�s main security control centre.
The technology park is a landmark event for Botswana, as companies who were not allowed to process diamonds earlier can now do so with 15 such licenses have been granted.